Author(s)

Mohamed Ali Ben Smida, Alěs Bolje, Anissa Ouerhani, Manel Barhoumi, Hassen Mejri, M’hamed El Cafsi, Rafika Fehri-Bedoui

Faculté des Sciences de Tunis, Université de Tunis El Manar, Tunis, Tunisie.
Fisheries Research Institute of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

The effects of solar and experimental drying on the protein concentration and total fatty acid (TFA) content of the muscles of Atherina boyeri (sand smelt) were studied. The percentage of protein was 18.3% for fresh fish and 14.2% for sun-dried fish, while TFA content was 4.9 g/100g and 0.5 g/100g. After the drying experiment, the percentage of protein was 23% and the fatty acid (FA) content was 2.8 g/100g. The results show that natural or experimental drying favors saturated fatty acids. The n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) are less sensitive to heat than the n-6 PUFAs. From a nutritional point of view, it seems that the drying conditions, where parameters are T = 50℃, moisture = 30% and air speed = 2 m/s, would be the most beneficial for the preservation of sand smelt.

Biochemical Composition, Solar Drying, Drying Experimental, Atherina boyeri

Smida, M. , Bolje, A. , Ouerhani, A. , Barhoumi, M. , Mejri, H. , Cafsi, M. and Fehri-Bedoui, R. (2014) Effects of Drying on the Biochemical Composition of Atherina boyeri from the Tunisian Coast. Food and Nutrition Sciences, 5, 1399-1407. doi: 10.4236/fns.2014.514152.